In two successive votes today, the Massachusetts legislature voted today to advance a measure “backing a proposed ballot initiative that could ban gay marriage.“

The proposed amendment, which would define marriage as between one man and one woman and ban future gay marriages, still needs approval of the next legislative session before it can go onto the ballot.

Those opposed to the ban include Massachusetts Governor-elect Deval Patrick, “fought all day to hold off the vote.”

It’s amazing how some people are so eager to prevent debate on this very important topic.

As I’ve said before, I think a referendum in Massachusetts would be a good thing. First, it would get people talking about gay marriage, giving advocates a chance to make clear why they believe marriage is good for gay people. Second, should this referendum be defeated (as Bay State polls indicate), it would provide momentum for gay marriage.

If Massachusetts voters reject this referendum (limiting the definition of marriage), advocates could show that, in the first (and only) state which recognized gay marriage, there was no popular backlash against the court’s decision.

I have long believed that the people of the several states — and their elected legislators — should decide whether or not to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. In the Bay State, where there seems to be significant popular support for such a change, a referendum would give gay marriage considerable legitimacy. And help keep the issue of same-sex relationships at the forefront of the national conversation.

… a quick look at the soon-to-be-removed Christmas decorations on the Patriot House in Charlotte.  I hope everyone had as wonderful a season of joy as we did.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

News from the battlefront of World War III…

Release Date 1/2/2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces killed three terrorists, wounded one and detained two other suspected terrorists in a raid Tuesday morning targeting an al-Qaida weapons dealer in the Baghdad area.

When Coalition Forces approached the targeted building, they called out for the occupants to exit the building.  No one responded. Coalition Forces then breached the wall and entered the building. 

Five armed men began firing at Coalition Forces.  Coalition Forces returned fire killing three armed men and wounding a fourth.  During the breach and firefight, the building caught fire. 

Once the building was secure and everyone was safely outside, Coalition Forces began extinguishing the fire and called the Baghdad Fire Department. Two men surrendered and were detained.  Two women and three children were present during the raid and none were injured.  

Coalition Forces ensured the women and children were safe and looked after by their neighbors. The wounded terrorist was administered first aid and transported to a nearby medical facility.

One of the men killed, an al-Qaida weapons dealer whom Coalition Forces were targeting, was identified by his wife. Terrorists continue to deliberately place innocent Iraqi women and children in danger by their actions and presence.

Coalition Forces will continue deliberate and methodical operations in order to hunt down and capture or kill terrorists trying to prevent a peaceful and stable Iraq.  These operations will continue to be successful with the support and cooperation of the Iraqi people.

Let’s not forget that these small victories are happening everyday in our new World War.  Unfortunately, they don’t come with edited TV images, so the American media doesn’t consider it newsworthy.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

…as he leaves Washington, DC for the last time today.

“In President Ford, the world saw the best of America and America found a man whose character and leadership would bring calm and healing to one of the most divisive moments in our nation’s history,” President George W. Bush said in his eulogy.

The elder President George H.W. Bush, opening the eulogies, called Ford a “Norman Rockwell painting come to life” and pierced the solemnity of the occasion by cracking gentle jokes about Ford’s reputation as an errant golfer. He said Ford knew his golf game was getting better when he began hitting fewer spectators.

Henry Kissinger, Ford’s secretary of state, paid tribute to Ford’s leadership in achieving nuclear arms control with the Soviets, in the first political agreement between Israel and Egypt and in helping to bring majority rule to southern Africa, among other achievements often overlooked in the modest man.

“In his understated way he did his duty as a leader, not as a performer playing to the gallery,” Kissinger said. “Gerald Ford had the virtues of small town America.”

President Gerald Ford – 1913-2006

Chris Crain has a great report on his blog about the parting comments by US Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) as he retires from Congress.  Here are some excerpts…

His last session of Congress behind him, retirement from public office only days away, Jim Kolbe has finally found his voice — or at least cleared his throat.  The gay Republican from Arizona granted a few farewell interviews before he steps down after more than two decades in Congress, to be replaced fittingly by a Democrat.

So with absolutely nothing left at stake, no political capital to lose, Kolbe finally took baby steps toward righting two long-standing wrongs: He admitted he was wrong to vote in favor of the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, and for the first time I’m aware of, he came out in favor of gay marriage.

Unfortunately, Kolbe’s timidity on gay marriage, DOMA and immigration reform aren’t the only things tarnishing his two decades in Congress. The Mark Foley scandal stuck to Kolbe as well, since it turns out one of Kolbe’s former pages asked the Arizona congressman to help convince Foley to stop contacting him. Both interviews touch on the subject, though he told the Blade only that he was happy the House ethics committee concluded no rules were broken. He doesn’t mention that the House report largely lets him off the hook because he is retiring from Congress and thereby escaping the committee’s jurisdiction.

It didn’t have to be this way, of course. But as with Foley and other closeted politicians, Kolbe is in many ways a product of his generation. His departure leaves gay Republicans with no out representatives in Congress, and we can only hope that whoever follows in their footsteps will do so with greater integrity.

Read the whole thing!  Chris has much more about the Kolbe-Foley Page Scandal connections and the lingering questions.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

A very interesting story from the Associated Press.  (You know the same news organization that invents their sources in Iraq….)  Anyway, this one is worth reading… and discussing.

US Toll In Iraq Lower Than Past Wars – AP

Americans may question this war for many reasons, but their doubts often find voice in the count of U.S. war deaths. An overwhelming majority – 84 percent – worry that the war is causing too many casualties, according to a September poll by the nonpartisan research group Public Agenda.

The country largely kept the faith during World War II, even as about 400,000 U.S. forces died – 20,000 just in the month-long Battle of the Bulge. Before turning against the wars in Korea and Vietnam, Americans tolerated thousands more deaths than in Iraq.

Has something changed? Do Americans somehow place higher value on the lives of their soldiers now? Do they expect success at lower cost? Or do most simply dismiss this particular war as the wrong one – hard to understand and harder to win – and so not worth the losses?

Keep in mind that Islamic terrorists killed nearly 3,000 American civilians in less than two hours on September 11, 2001.

Unfortunately, most elected National Democrats have politicized the War on Terror from the start.  And many of them also see World War III as a mere “law enforcement action”.  In fact, we have an entire American political party (and their supporters) holding onto their September 10th fantasy world.

It is pretty clear at this point that it will take a mushroom cloud over Los Angeles for our country to rally in full force against Islamic fascism.  I also strongly believe that much of the indifference to World War III lies with the Baby Boomer generation, as the AP article also points out.

But are Americans willing to hang in a tough fight anymore?

Some wonder if U.S. society, now populated by baby boomers who recall Vietnam and never knew the hardships of the Great Depression or World War II, has simply lost its stomach for great sacrifices. Or perhaps in a materialistic culture, priorities are simply elsewhere now. “Everybody’s looking to get theirs,” says Tony Bouza, a veteran and former Minneapolis police chief who wrote “The Decline and Fall of the American Empire.”

It is quite sobering to think that the “Me Generation” may have put the famed Sleeping Giant into a coma.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)